Introduction
According to a report issued by Equality and Human Rights commission in London, most of the financial institutions have been found to be dominated by cases of gender discrimination when it comes to promotion and job assignment. Women in financial institutions have been found to remain in the same position for years despite them being productive. This has hampered their growth career-wise (Alvesson & Billing 1998, pp. 73-103). Kiboko Bank is one of the banks in London that have also been found to suffer from this problem. Despite it not being mentioned by the commission as one of the affected banks, female staff in the bank have complained of being discriminated against. Some have complained of sexual harassment by their male counterparts while others even lose their jobs when they become pregnant.
There have been cases where women have been denied permission to look after their sick members of the family while men have been freely allowed to do so. In addition, women working in Kiboko bank have complained of not being paid equally with men they are working in the same position with. In bid to ensure that this issue does not go out of hand, Ms Mukebe; the only woman in the bank’s board of directors, has appointed me as the ethics manager to come up with the most viable measures to implement to help the bank. This report aims at giving some of the measures to be implemented in the bank to eliminate cases of gender discrimination.
According to Baker (2002, pp. 113-134), it has been revealed that the rate of gender discrimination in the country has significantly gone high. This is relative to the level it was at before the economic recession experienced recently. Most of the institutions have been found to request their recruiting team not to hire expectant women or women who have reached the age of giving birth. Baker also claimed that rate of women losing their jobs during the recession was also higher than that of men. It is with this respect that gender discrimination issues in all organizations need to be addressed with immediate effect.
Measures to be taken in addressing the issue
In fighting gender discrimination at workplaces, business organizations as well as bodies responsible of ensuring that there is equitable treatment of all employees such as International Labor Organization (ILO), have come up with different measures. Some of the ethical management tools being used to avoid cases of gender discrimination at workplaces include ensuring that they have availed policies that foster equal income and employment opportunities for all regardless of their gender (Bradley 1999, p. 64). This has helped in eliminating cases of women being denied promotion opportunities at workplaces. Organizations have also come up with regulations that promote the rights of all staffs at workplaces (Browne 2000, p. 124). This is in bid to prevent cases of sexual harassment at workplaces. ILO has urged organizations to promote collective exchange of ideas at their workplaces. This is in bid to ensure that women have been given an opportunity to contribute to matters affecting the organization thus not being treated with contempt by their colleagues at work (Burstein 2000, pp. 143-167).
To help Kiboko bank overcome cases of gender discrimination rocking it consequently affecting its performance and reputation, the bank’s management ought to come up with policies that promote equal salary and employment opportunities for all staffs working on the same department without considering their genders. This will help in avoiding cases where men are paid higher than women despite them working in the same department (Chiplin & Sloane 1982, p. 43). Equitable employment opportunities will not only ensure that more women are employed in the bank but will also facilitate in ensuring that promotion within the bank is done appropriately (Hulti & Szulkin 1999, pp. 78-96).
Kiboko bank deserves to come up with rules and regulations that outline the rights of all staff at workplaces. This is with respect to promotion, income as well as holidays and other benefits. This will help in ensuring that cases of women being fired for being pregnant are avoided. In case of such incident, the affected party will be in a position to file a case against the institution and claim his or her rights (Snell 1999, pp. 37-57). By outlining the rights of every employee in the bank, cases of sexual harassment will be eliminated. This is because those found to have perpetrated it will be dealt with according to the set rules. With these regulations in place, the bank will ensure that all staffs are equally treated. There will also be a high degree of respect among all staffs at the workplace (Tomaskivic-Devey 2004, p. 346).
Gender discrimination at workplaces occurs due to management failing to involve all staffs in dealing with issues affecting the organization. Rocking women out of crucial discussions affecting the institution lead to men consider themselves to be superior. This leads to them treating female staffs with contempt resulting to cases of sexual harassment. Kiboko ought to ensure that all staff are incorporated when it comes to making vital decisions affecting the bank. This will lead to men developing the culture of respect to female staffs thus avoiding cases of gender discrimination in the institution (Weichselbaumer 2003, pp. 629-642). The bank will also benefits from the experienced possessed by female staffs of which it has not been exploiting due to leaving them out of vital discussions.
Ensuring that there is equal income and employment opportunities within the bank can not help in preventing case of gender discrimination by itself (Williams, Giuffre & Dellinger 1999, pp. 73-93). This is because the male staffs will still have no respect for women at work. The bank requires coming up with regulations that outlines the rights of every employee. This will ensure that staffs respect one another thus eliminating cases of sexual harassment. Despite ensuring that all staffs have equal access to employment opportunity and that there are regulations to ensure that every staffs respects the right of the other, rocking women out of some discussions affecting the organization will act as gender discrimination. The bank needs to ensure that all staffs participate equally in matters affecting the bank.
Conclusion
The above discussed measures will go a long way in helping the bank avoid cases of gender discrimination hampering its growth and development. However, incorporating these measures without taking the initiative to follow their implementation will not help the bank in overcoming the problem. The bank’s management needs to lead by example through ensuring that it equally employs and promotes staffs within the institution (Wright & Ermisch 1999, pp. 508-522). Secondly, the management needs to take the initiative of ensuring that all staffs have abided by the established regulations. This will ensure that there is respect among the staff as well as staff are equally treated when it comes to being issued with off-holidays. The management needs to take the initiative of educating all the staffs on the benefits of ensuring they relate well when in their areas of work. This is the only way that will lead to staffs respecting one another.
Reference List
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